I know Eric Wilson [Birdale int] done the odd Pakistan and quite a lot of Afghanistan.They subbed a bit for Astran.I would be hesitant to say that many [if any] done India.India was a bit like Peking,Bankok and Capetown,we all know someone done it cause MMTM but just can’t remember his name.
Hiya both Thor and Comart run to the Indian border. i was told the shipping of copper was to slow getting the ships unloaded.
they can’t fly copper because the energy in copper messes up the navigation so by road the load went. i think there a story about
a pal of mine Derick Birch(not seen him for years)got taken hostage somewhere down towards India, his missus wasn’t very happy.
i used to have a chat with Derek in the cafe, he told me he’d got this new job, well i never saw him for weeks and weeks, i said
where are you running on this job, he said the first couple of weeks local then he’d done some to bla bla bla in Iran. gulp i thought
London was a long way.
John
Nice responses chaps! You’ve certainly warmed the thread up a little. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that some brave soul got an ERF LV to Calcutta! Keep 'em coming. Robert 
Hiya Robert…a chap in Leek drove for Comart. he drove this LV erf(on the comart site burned out) it had the roof raised
up about 4 inches(extra headroom) this Malcom(still alive) was a friend of a friend. now all i know is that Malcom drove this
lorry(180 ■■■■■■■■ quite a way down europe he then got onto ferry and drove further overland.I,ve never done any
overseas lorry driving so can’t say just where this trip went to but you doing the middle east work may work out where or
which direction this Malcom drove to. i know he was gone quite a few weeks.by the way the ERF was burned out half way
up Mont blanc with another driver so the LV must have see quite a lot of action.the lorry was a 1967 erf and got burned
out in 1971, the photo is on page 10 of the Comart europa int tst dedicated to wheeler
cheers John
Most Indian stuff was transshipped at Lahore but there were a few that went through. I was talking to Bob Carter ( Trans UK ) and he told me that they sent a few loads all the way but the paper work etc to get into India didn’t make it worth the effort. He told me that they didn’t send there own trucks but used a subbie then mentioned his name, ( sorry I can’t remember it ) I spoke to Dave Mackie about it and Dave told me the same guys mane and said he went through 3 or 4 times but also mentioned about the paper involved and said it wasn’t worth it.
I was in the yard one day at Trans Mondo when a local bloke in his 50’s was there ( this was late 90’s ) sort of a local truck driving legend. I didn’t get to speak to him as I was busy at the time, but later was told that he was a regular on far east in the 70,s Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and India. Most of the time on freight but some times on coaches. One of the Rynart companies were also doing the same. Altrex as well, Firderici was tip out at Lahore and load straight out the back door on to Indian trucks
Jeff.
The two lads who took the load of copper to India in the seventies for Thor Transport from Stoke were Alan Morrey and Les Parkinson.
It was Alan who told me about the British Army Regiment badges that were carved into the sandstone cliffs going along The Khyber Pass which is something that I would of loved to have seen.
Who can remember (I can’t) what was the name of that huge sandstone cliff carvings in Afghanistan of the Buddhist statues that were blown up by the Taliban because “they were offensive”. I think that it was sometime in the nineties after The United Nations had pleaded with the Taliban not to do it but they took no notice. If anybody can come up with a name then I can start a Google search to find it.
It was great to see Phil Bunch “Bunchy” had joined the forum a couple of months ago 
I think that Phil was also working for Thor at the time so he probably can remember more that I do about that trip with the copper and I am sure that Phil would have loads of very interesting anecdotes to share.
If you are reading this Bunchy, what was the name of this lad sat next to Alan wearing the glasses, he worked for Moorlock’s in the eighties, I think his name was Steve and he used to sell used cars. 
You and Gouldy were also driving for Moorlock’s when I took this photo, circa 1986.
Alan Morrey.
Regards Steve.
I can’t remember if Alan told me that if they ever did reach their final destination so maybe I should of listened more carefully to what an old bloke was telling me over thirty years ago. 
I do remember him saying that they were parked in a horrific sand storm where they just had to park up and sit it out for a couple of hours. The box trailer was being shaken violently when all of a sudden the cab of the Volvo F88 seemed to lurch forward and they thought somebody had ran into the back of them. Their first thoughts were surely nobody would of been daft enough to drive in those conditions so they both got out expecting to find dead bodies and a tangled mess at the back of them. When they managed to crawl around the back, after being sandblasted, they were surprised to find that there was no one around. It was only when they arrived at the next border and the customs men opened the doors of the trailer that they discovered that part of the roof had been blown off. He also said that after being two up in a F88 for a month that all they wanted to do was to get on their way home.
I have just spent the last couple of hours searching for those Buddha’s that were supposed to be somewhere along The Silk Road and these are them.
If you thought the Taliban who blew up the Buddhist statues were daft, a few weeks ago the Islamists of Cairo managed to blow up their own museum of priceless, irreplaceable Islamic relics! Robert 
robert1952:
If you thought the Taliban who blew up the Buddhist statues were daft, a few weeks ago the Islamists of Cairo managed to blow up their own museum of priceless, irreplaceable Islamic relics! Robert
The Muslims are world class at destroying things ,planes ,cities,buildings ,trains,busses ,people. They should be given recognition for what they’re good at. A kind of Nobel Prize for their tireless efforts to destroy civilisation ? The shortage of razor blades must be chronic for these people,just crying out for someone to invent Gillette ,but then they would just blow the factory up I suppose? Or, it would be interesting to see what a Muslim plane or car would look like if they switched from negative to a positive mind set. But I guess it’s more fun blowing up other people and their property?
Muslims have a subtle sense of humour. Earlier this week in Egypt over five hundred students were sentenced to death ,the trial took all of one hour and some of the condemned were not even in court at the time.Next week over nine hundred will be tried. Strange,but not one has made a phone call to Strasbourg ? Are we missing a trick here?
This guy was one of the more creative Muslims ,he opened a shop in the Gulf and sold nuclear bomb technology to amongst others,Pakistan,North Korea ,Iran, etc.
He did it purely for cash,btw .none of that airy-fairy Islamic delusional ideology. 
As a distraction from the intensity of religio-political debate, I have this observation to make about the picture below: goor, loogadda beaver on det! Robert
Evening Gentlemen, you know this is a truly fascinating thread, some of you have driven, experienced, enjoyed, and still live most fascinating lives!
Me, I never reached as far as you did. Back in the 60s, mainland Europe was a delight to me. The view through the windscreen of my little Foden, was like a super view of the world. The people that I met, the cultures that I experienced, burned deep into my personality, absolute heaven.I simply just could not get enough of it…the nectar of life…perhaps even the meaning of life!
I was as green as could be, and mistakes were around every corner…yet there was always someone who would take pity, and help, or advise me. I was lucky, perhaps, we all, wherever we came from , were all “green”, but the camaraderie I shall never forget.
Helping an aged Frenchman with a Somua artic change a wheel near Dijon, and being plied with many “deep” draughts of Claret, in gratitude. Being in absolute frustration with trying to change a fractured 4LK Gardner injection pipe near Paris…then being quietly and graciously being assisted by the workshop staff at Tpts Borca, whose stores held as many Gardner parts as any major UK Haulier!
As Jeff has said, few can understand really what the experiences that we have had, really do mean, mine are modest against what so many of you have done. But the real delight of these sites is being able to enjoy what each and every one has experienced, and let those memories “trigger” your own!!
Trigger is the right word, for instead of trawling through some “Euro speak” Agri volume tonight, (to justify why I am trying to grow crops on ravished and flooded land), I have been trying to find, in my old records , my RAC European driving permits…how many of you remember those, …probably fewer than remember having to "clear " at Le Touquet, as Calais did not have the facilities!!!
Long way from Pakistan, and my 3 months at Berliet in Maroc, I really did not enjoy, but perhaps all our motives, memories, and enjoyment, have similar roots!!
I shall raise a glass of Bollinger to you all, and for sharing your lives…and long may it continue!
Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
But the real delight of these sites is being able to enjoy what each and every one has experienced, and let those memories “trigger” your own!!
That’s a bulls eye John and it’s what makes The Old Timers Forum the great site that it is.
mushroomman:
Saviem:
But the real delight of these sites is being able to enjoy what each and every one has experienced, and let those memories “trigger” your own!!That’s a bulls eye John and it’s what makes The Old Timers Forum the great site that it is.
I second that, Mushroomman. Never a truer word, ya Saviem! Robert
robert1952:
As a distraction from the intensity of religio-political debate, I have this observation to make about the picture below: goor, loogadda beaver on det! Robert0
I think it’s quite remarkable that after all the use that eight legger on top has had the mirrors are still sticking out the way they are supposed to do
Charles
remy:
robert1952:
As a distraction from the intensity of religio-political debate, I have this observation to make about the picture below: goor, loogadda beaver on det! Robert0
I think it’s quite remarkable that after all the use that eight legger on top has had the mirrors are still sticking out the way they are supposed to do
Charles
Yeah, a bit of Japanese Beaver never did anyone any harm! robert
robert1952:
Dutch Rynart Fiats doing Pakistan. Robert210
In the LV to Pakistan picture is that a young John “Willy” Williams ? Looks like him in his younger days !
Regards
Kenny
Hi Robert.Not to appear to be nitpicking as i have the greatest admiration for both the photos and travels that you post.But,the two trucks are Italian,not Rynart as Rynart Transport were green and cream and Rynart Trucking were blue with a red and white band.
As my colleague mentions i also think the ERF was Johnny Williams.If my memory is not too fuddled i think it was about 1971-2.Mike